Two steps back....by me not Stosh

[Stosh]

Didn't have a great lesson today and it's all my fault. I don't have Stosh sufficiently under control enough to let him loose. The trainer says my energy level is no where near where it needs to be because Stosh is full of energy and desire, but because I don't demand a 'down' on the first- or even second- try, he's not reliable enough to move to the next level. My voice is too even, level and calm and he's tuning me out. So I've got until Thursday to come up with a growl.

[ShenzisMom]

Listen to some metal, you'll get the idea :P

[vat]

Hey I had the same problem in my training. Finally I got it and my trainer asked what changed. I told him I thought of something that hubby might do to tick me off!!

[Stosh]

Funny, my husband was in town and he was there this morning and she asked him if I'm always this nice, didn't I ever nag or yell at him? He told her not to mess with it up for him! When I did really get after Stosh she was very unimpressed and my husband said that's the meanest he's ever heard me sound towards an animal or anything- but the next time I told Stosh to down, he did! The next 3 times, without fail.

[vat]

There ya go, just think of something that kinda ticks you off and makes you feel more forceful but not to the point of really peeved.

[selzer]

Do you play the down game with Stosh. It starts with cheese, and when you are first training down, every time he downs he gets a piece of cheese, good down. Then, he gets that cheese only when he downs quickly. Use different tones of voice, not just mean or harsh, certainly not a question though. Switch it up for hand signals. Then go from cheese to praise, but only when he does it as fast as you want him too.

I do not like to train in harsh tones because, I cannot do that in the ring, and I do not want to always sound like some kind of cop. But I have a naturally loud and low voice for a woman, so my ordinary voice may be your command voice.

If you train/give commands in your harshest ever voice, how will you give a correction?

Oh and no second or third commands. If he does not DOWN on the first command, help him.

[vat]

Originally Posted by selzer

Do you play the down game with Stosh. It starts with cheese, and when you are first training down, every time he downs he gets a piece of cheese, good down. Then, he gets that cheese only when he downs quickly. Use different tones of voice, not just mean or harsh, certainly not a question though. Switch it up for hand signals. Then go form cheese to praise, but only when he does it as fast as you want him too.

I do not like to train in harsh tones because, I cannot do that in the ring, and I do not want to always sound like some kind of cop. But I have a naturally loud and low voice for a woman, so my ordinary voice may be your command voice.

If you train/give commands in your harshest ever voice, how will you give a correction?

Ah your lucky, I can have a timid voice unless I think about it then I can come off more like I mean it. That is why if I think of something that ticks me off I can then sound more like I mean it (not really mean just more forcefull). Otherwise my instructor says I sound to timid and that is why Max does not listen sometimes. Stosh I am guessing we might be kinda the same

[Rerun]

Rule number one - never repeat commands. Your dog heard you the first time, so if he knows the command and doesn't listen, you need to issue a correction.

[Stosh]

Stosh certainly knows what 'down' is and he absolutely must do it when he's off lead an in with the sheep. Right now he's dragging a lead so I can grab it but we've got to get past that. I know it's my voice and attitude- a few years ago I had a stroke at a relatively young age and my voice became very flat and totally lacked expression, so for me to even have this much is work. I also have to get over thinking Stosh is going to be afraid of me or that I'll hurt his feelings, etc. I'm going to put Metallica's black album on my ipod and I'll imitate it. This should be interesting!

[mspiker03]

I like using sit or just stop with my dogs so they aren't getting up and down all the time. Sometimes, they just need to pause briefly and then I need them moving again, so that before they even get to the down, they need to move again. My husband ended up ruining Levi's sit command (when herding only) because he would tell him sit, Levi would get halfway down and then he would tell him to walk up (or whatever). I ended up turning that sit into a stop and only have him sit when I know he is going to be there for a few seconds.